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J÷r­gar­ Map of the Week #36 - Bonehall Dark Rider Draug Lair

Our Map of the Week program has produced a few disgruntled comments from potential users who think we're bogged down in ruins. That's true to a certain extent. Most of the Map of the Week releases to date have been from the ruins of the fallen Ăsir Empire, which makes up a big area in the northwestern corner of the J÷r­gar­ (TM) campaign setting. If you're tired of the ruins too, the good news is that we're slowly coming out of them. Today we have the last releases from the lair of the dark draugs Hrolf and ■ing˙l in Bonehall. After that we'll see the lair of the dark draug Mřsing in Garndi's Crossing. When that's done, we'll depart the ruins and move on to other perhaps more "normal" locations.

The 36th Map-of-the-Week in the former Ăsir settlement of Lifehall after the devastation, when the two dark draugs Hrolf and ■ing˙l claimed it and made lifeless Bonehall of it concludes today with the dungeon plans of the dark rider draugs' lair.

Key to the Dark Rider Draugs' Lair

This structure served as a dormitory for clerics, teachers and students. Using materials from the demolished structures in the settlement, the orcs rebuilt the ground floor and the cellar, turning the latter into a special prison for particularly valuable "guests.". The stone-tiled ground floor and the cellar floor were fully intact, but the wooden floors of the upper stories were rotted away in several areas and broke through. The orcs removed all of the upper floors except the second story and the observation tower. The second story serves only as a ceiling for the ground floor. It is 10 feet/3 m above the ground floor. There is nothing to find there (unless, of course, the game master chooses to add things). It can be entered with a ladder and through a trap door in the ceiling of area 21. The observation tower is used by the dark rider draugs, all of whom are in avatar form. The draugs and orcs call the dungeon level prison the Chamber of Persuasion (SannfŠrtrklefi). Because so few intruders have been in the area to date, the chamber has not yet entertained guests. Hrˇlf intends the chamber be used for future prisoners who are of particular value to him or who have valuable information.

Key to the Dungeon Level

1. Torture Rack 1. This rack is intended for stretching prisoners.

2. Torture Rack 2. This rack is intended to hold prisoners in a prone position while branding irons or other tortures are applied to them.

3. Acid Bath. Prisoners can be chained in the bath, which is filled with acid too weak in strength to cause fatal damage but strong enough to cause considerable pain.

4. Brazier with Branding Irons.

5. Grill. A prisoner can be chained to the grill, which is above a bed of glowing coals. The height of the grill can be adjusted to avoid fatally damaging a prisoner.

6. Gibbet. A prisoner can be caged here and left to starve until he or she yields.

7. Operating Table. A prisoner can be chained to the table, where the practitioners can operate upon him or her, partially skin him or her, etc.

8. Water Well.

9. Whipping Post.

10. Iron Maiden. This device is, of course, fatal. It is intended to slay a companion of the interrogation's target, while the target looks on from within the gibbet.

11. Guest Rooms (4). All four rooms have the same furnishings: A cot, a wooden table and chain, wall manacles, a ball and chain, stocks and a jakes. The manacles, ball and chain and stocks make it possible to keep a guest in varying states of comfort and discomfort.

12. Corridor. Two orc warriors always are on guard here.

13. Stairway to the Ground Floor. One orc warrior always is on guard here.

Key to the Ground Floor

14-19. Dark Rider Draugs' Individual Chambers. All six are furnished in the same manner, with a fancy chair, a table and chairs, a weapons table, a desk, a stool and a weapons container.

20. Corridor. Three orc warriors always are on guard here.

21. Dark Rider Draugs' Armory. Four orc warriors always are on guard here. The base of the spiral staircase to the tower loft also is here. This chamber has the only entryway to the dungeon level.

22. Stairway Down to the Dungeon. One orc warrior always is on guard here.

Tower Level

The tower has a height of 100 feet/30 m. All four sides have glass windows. In the northwest (upper left) corner stands a Bowl of Seeing Water. A creature can look into the water and see animal living or undead being within 1,000 feet/300 m of Beinh÷ll.

You can get these dungeon plans in two versions:

1. The original Fractal Mapper (TM) 8 map in FMP format, fully editable, from our J÷r­gar­ web page (18 MB). This version includes a 16-page PDF pamphlet that tells you how to use the map in FM8.

2. As three JPG flat maps, two of 1360 x 990 pixels and one at 1100 x 1100 at about 1 MB each, above.

Both versions are released for personal and commercial use under the Open Game License Version 1.0a, which you can read on the J÷r­gar­ web site.

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